[Breaking News] Beyond CMOS, "super chips" may be born within ten years

Latest update time：2018-12-06

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On December 3, Nature magazine published a research paper on next-generation logic devices (click "Read original text" to view), the authors include researchers from Intel, the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This paper describes a magneto-electric spin-orbit (MESO) logic device invented by Intel. Compared with the current complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), MESO devices, combined with ultra-low sleep state power, are expected to reduce voltage by 5 times and energy consumption by 10-30 times. While pursuing the continuous miniaturization of CMOS, Intel has been studying computing logic options that will emerge in the next decade beyond the CMOS era, driving computing energy efficiency improvements and promoting performance growth across different computing architectures.

“We are working on computing solutions that go beyond the CMOS era, seeking breakthroughs that are revolutionary rather than evolutionary,” said Ian Young, Intel senior fellow and director of the Exploratory Integrated Circuits Group in the Technology and Manufacturing Group. “MESO combines quantum material innovations with computing based on low-voltage interconnects and low-voltage magnetoelectrics. We are very excited about the progress we have made and look forward to realizing its potential and demonstrating further reductions in switching voltage in the future.”

Intel researchers invented the MESO device, which takes into account the memory, interconnect and logic requirements of future computing. Intel has prototyped the MESO device, which uses quantum materials that exhibit emerging quantum behaviors at room temperature, and magnetoelectric materials developed by Ramamoorthy Ramesh (UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory). MESO also takes advantage of spin-orbit transduction effects described by Albert Fert (CNRS/Thales Joint Physics Research Group).

"The MESO device is based on room-temperature quantum materials," said Sasikanth Manipatruni, director and senior scientist at Intel's Functional Electronics Integration and Manufacturing Technology Center. "It demonstrates the possibilities of this technology and is expected to trigger a new round of innovation in industry, academia and national laboratories. However, many of the key materials and technologies required for this new computing device and architecture still need more development."

For more details, please see:

Scalable and energy-efficient magnetoelectric spin-orbit logic (DOI)

Nature

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0770-2

New quantum material could take computing devices beyond the semiconductor era

Berkeley News

https://news.berkeley.edu/2018/12/03/new-quantum-materials-could-take-computers-beyond-the-semiconductor-era/

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